During orthopedic implant procedures, e.g. total hip replacement (THR), the orientation of the surgical implants has a direct impact on the postoperative function and long term operability of the implant. The conventional surgical techniques use simple “eyeballing” methods or mechanical tools to position the implant. The “eyeballing” method is found to be insufficient to provide an accurate alignment of the implant components with the bones where the implant is attached. The studies have proved that sub-optimally positioned orthopedic implants correlate to improper loading, increased implant wear, and even implant failure.
The current commercially available Computer-Assisted Surgery systems use optical or magnetic tracking systems. These systems are able to track patient coordinate system accurately and reliably. However, the factors, such as high costs, the limited operating range, maintaining a line of sight contact, and magnetic interferences, are main issues associated with these technologies.
The proposed system and method uses self-contained inertial sensors, which do not rely on signal transmission and immune to electromagnetic disturbances. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for the applications in the OR environment containing a large amount of equipment.